15 DAYS in JAPAN (Japan Travel Megavlog)
We’re spending the next two weeks exploring Japan from the neon lit streets of Tokyo through the ancient wonders of Kyoto and into the peaceful countryside of Nara. Along the way, we’ll feast on Japan’s legendary food, wander through centuries old temples and shrines, meet the charming bowing deer of Nara Park, hit the road in a camper van to explore Mount Fuji, and visit the famous snow monkeys of Nagano. Packed with incredible food, unforgettable encounters, and once-ina-lifetime experiences, this is our ultimate Japan adventure. So, pour yourself a matcha or grab some sushi, sit back and enjoy. Let’s go to Japan. We have spent the last week in Korea frolicking in the snow and enjoying all of the street food. Wow. But today, we’re going to Japan. Woohoo. Little like checkout thing in the elevator on your way down. Impressed with these uh Ubers being so quick. Yeah, same. Thank you. Just 20 minutes and we’ll be at the airport. [Music] So, from here we have a 2-hour flight from Busousan, South Korea to Tokyo, Japan. Then, we have to figure out how to get to a hotel in the Asakusa region. And if everything goes to plan, we will be seeing sumo wrestlers tonight. Yes, we’ve actually put you on the check-in machine. So, we’re going to try and check in here. This is the thing about lowcost carriers. We can never figure out how to check in online. And last night, we got all the way through and then it specifically said that Jordan had to seek help at the help desk. I was fine, but you needed help. Good morning. We are there for 3 weeks, but window for me, not for him. Yes. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you so much. Have a nice day. I don’t think we’ve had this anywhere else, but in Korea, you need to hang around for 5 minutes while they inspect your bag. So, coffee next. [Music] Turns out it’s pretty difficult to find coffee in the Busan airport, but they did have our favorite convenience store, which has our favorite coffee. These are like two bucks each, full of sugar. Nice and cold. Definitely needed after an early morning. Not to uh toot my own horn or anything, but I do think Jordan’s leading the witness a little bit. There was cafes outside of security and someone said, “Oh, let’s go to one of those.” And someone said, “Now, there’ll be some through the security system.” There should be. There should be. Yeah. We are here super early because our budget aine didn’t let us check in online. This has to be the most unique layout for an airport I think we’ve ever seen. I don’t really like it. Yeah. [Music] Thank you. Hello. Thank you. Have a nice day. A last time saying that. If you’re new here, we’re Jordan and Emily and we are on a mission to see 100 countries in the next 2 years. And today we’re going to country 53. Oh yeah. Did I say 52 before? Yeah. I don’t know. We keep getting confused. It’s 53. Today we’re flying Ju Ju Airlines, which is the first and the largest budget carrier in Korea. So it’ll be cool to compare like that to your Ryan Airs and your Easy Jets and things like that. But off the bat, exactly the same. Very simple. Seats are very thin. 2 hours from now we will be in Japan. [Music] [Music] I’d say very similar to your Ryan Airs and your easy jets. quick, pleasant, affordable. Thank you. Have a nice day. I’m so excited. I can’t believe it. This is maybe the fifth time I’ve gotten the country count wrong. I think this is our 54th country, not our 53rd. And I might have gotten it wrong again. We really have to sit down and go through it one day and confirm. 50 20% of the world. That’s crazy. It’s really not much. And we saw something on the way in. It I was looking out the window and first of all, it was a beautiful flight. We passed all of these snowy mountains and then I was looking out as far as I could and like a bolt of lightning hit me. I was so excited cuz I could just see Mount Fuji. What a dramatic narrative. It genuinely I think you saw me. I like it genuinely shocked me. So, because we still have our regional eim that’s connected immediately, we are able to see what we need to get for public transport. And it seems like it might be pretty easy. Japan is one of those places where rather than being overwhelmed with how to do things. I feel like I’m overwhelmed that there’s too much information about how to do things. So, I was nervous that paying for the public transport was going to be confusing. But honestly, all you have to do is open your Apple Wallet, click plus, and add a transit card. And it’s important that if your partner happens to be an Android user, good on you. Keep going. Fight the fight. The iPhone users can also add a second SUA card. So, so I’m in charge of both of them. She’s in charge of both. Yay. [Music] Aha. Okay. So far so good. So, there are apparently two different options for the Skylliner train to get us right into the heart of the city. One is reserve seating. You can buy those tickets when you first come into the station. And the second one is to use the metro card that you can use everywhere else. We’ve done this one, so we have to just wait till the next train. That’s pretty much it. Whenever I catch a train like that, I always think it’s going to like thin out. The crowd will thin out. Not the case. Full train. Got fuller the entire time. Nice. That was pretty easy. That a very long and crowded train ride. I’m not complaining. We actually met some really nice people on the train. Um, it was 1,360ish yen, so about $14 Australian per person. But it seems like it’s dropped us right in the heart of things. The Asakusa neighborhood. I love it already. Very nice. Wow, it’s quite spacious. Okay. All right. Not bad. Yeah. Happy with that. Electra’s expensive, but quite homey. Highspeed Wi-Fi, but they let us check in slightly early. What is it done? 3:30. Half an hour early. All right. This room is pretty good. It is the maximum we would spend on a room. It’s actually over our daily budget. Comfy bed. How much is it? 120 Australian. But we are super well located. And I think before we go to the Zuma wrestlers, we should go see the city, get some food. Yeah, we don’t have long, so we’ll be quick. We’ve come to the Asakusum. I can’t say the Asakus Sumo Club. Literally a 2-minute walk from where we’re staying for what is meant to be quite the unique sumo experience. First drink is on the house and it’s all you can eat. Awesome. Thank you. And there’s how many group? Oh, we’re not together. Sorry. I’m just standing close. That’s my seat reserve, so it doesn’t matter who comes. Oh, sorry. She’s standing as if we’re best friends. Nime sama. And if you have a chance, check out our new kimono shop. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Sama. You heard the whole deal about the first free drink? Yes. Twice. Let me tell you again. A third time would be amazing. No. What’s Thank you. Oh, didn’t I was listening. She’s in charge and it’s on tip. It’s either under Emily Dean or Jordan Deassie. That’s it. Thank you. [Music] Amazing. Thank you so much. Front row. I’m so excited. Front row bandits. I’m so excited. So, there’s a few different sumo experiences you can get in Tokyo. So, quick. Thank you. Thank you. Wow. Wa that’s a hectic candle. The actual tournaments only happen a certain time of year which we are not here for. Then the other more popular thing to do is the morning training I think it’s called. But what we found was basically dinner and show. Wow. Thank you. Thank you. So, we get unlimited hot pot, a free drink, and from what I understand, they sort of explain the sumo and we watch them wrestle, but in like a fun, entertaining way, whereas the morning training that people go to, it’s like serious. Yeah. Wow. God, I’m feeling very lucky with life right now. It might be fish. Do you use your dessert fork? Yeah. It doesn’t taste like fish. You saying it’s fish just confused my brain. It’s pork. I know. These look like it gets more exciting. I wonder what these are. Weird. Do you remember the one dunk it? How does one hot hot? Oh, so we’re going to have this exact tour that we’re doing linked below, but wait to see all of it to make sure it’s worth it because right now we haven’t seen the show and you know I don’t want to recommend something that we don’t really love. So I did read on reviews that apparently sometimes audience get tapped to wrestle and we’re in the front row. Do we have any sumo fans here tonight? [Applause] This is the actual size of a real dojo. Wrestlers always grab a handful of salt and throw it into the ring to purify it. Uh, sumo wrestlers famously do a lot of stomping in the dojo. That’s to get rid of any evil spirits or bad energy that might be lingering. So, when they throw the salt or when they stomp in the dojo, that’s your cue to yell Very good. I love it already. What have we learned so far? So, apparently this is only like a year old, which is why maybe we haven’t seen people do it before. Not sumo, this specific dojo in Tokyo doing their like show is only a year old. Sumo is actually the oldest sport in the world apparently. But we learned. All right, ladies and gentlemen, I’ll tell you later is taking Woo! [Applause] Ladies and gentlemen, the Asaka Sumo Club Rickshi. Hey, everybody. Give him some love, people. commonly used techniques. Oh yeah. [Applause] You want to go [Music] You knew there’s a full moon tonight, did you? [Music] [Applause] Amazing. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Wow. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. I don’t say it lightly. One of the coolest things we’ve done on this trip. So like kitschy and over the top and skit comedy in WWE. Honestly, it’s like an actual sumo wrestling match, which is what you really want to see. We got that. We also got a comedy show beforehand. And it was like informational. Yeah. Educational. The whole plus some pickies. Included pickies and some goodie bags. Yeah. Oh, and we got fed. We had like a hot pot food and beer. You probably saw that already, but still. Honestly, 10 out of 10. Yeah. We’ll leave the link for this one below because they’re quite a new tour or offering. So, I don’t know if many people know about it, but this should be number one. This should be number one cuz it was just it hit all the boxes. I loved it. It’s just got me so pumped up for Tokyo and for Japan. Like, there’s so much to see and I’m in love with all of it already. What an intro to Japan. I can’t wait for the next two days exploring Tokyo, let alone the next two weeks exploring Japan. Oh, I’m so happy. So, we’ve made it to Japan. We’ve watched a sumo show. And now it’s finally time to explore Tokyo. Japan’s iconic, electric, and totally overwhelming bucket list city. We had just 48 hours to see all of the top things to do in Tokyo. But this isn’t a city you can tackle without a plan. I really have no idea where we’re going. So, we made a map this way, wrote a list, checked it twice, and hit the streets. From iconic shrines to delicious and unique foods, peaceful park escapes, and the busiest crosswalk in the world. We ended the whole 48 hours with one of the most unforgettable sunsets of our lives. Oh, and if you’re planning a trip to Tokyo, you can grab our free map in the description. Let’s go to Tokyo. Look at the camera, not yourself. But I’m so handsome. Good morning from our first full day in Tokyo, Japan. We have made a list of 15 things we want to do while we’re here. And over the next 48 hours, we’re going to check off as many as we can. We’re staying in the Asakusa region of Tokyo, which means our first stop is in walking distance. [Music] Yeah. Wow. That’s not what we saw yesterday. No, we saw like the outskirts of it, but not that. literally like around the corner from where we’re staying. That’s crazy. First stop is very busy and I feel like it is just a sign of things to come. We are in the most popular city in the entire world, so can’t really expect anything different. [Music] Literally a 5-minute walk from where we’re staying is Senzo Gi. And this is Tokyo’s oldest temple. It’s a Buddhist temple and was built in, let me confirm, was built in 6:45 CE. I don’t even know what that is. What CE? The craziest fact that I read about this temple is that that massive red lantern at the ca at the gate weighs 700 kilos. Isn’t that bonkers? It is beautiful here. It’s free entry. It seems to be quite spread across things. So, there’s the main Seno G temple and then some other things to look at. Plus, you can get a 100red yen fortune, which I think we should do. Heck yeah. Let’s go. First vending machine purchase. We needed change for a fortune. So, I got some water from Mount Fuji. Okay. 100 in to donate. Mhm. Then we shake this until a stick comes out. Oh no. Now we need to do 200. Okay. Do you have 200? Yeah. You have another 200. Okay. Now we’ve got to match this. And that’s your fortune. Oh, that’s tough. Yeah. It’s numbers. Oh, mine definitely starts with a window like this. Window plus three. That’s a match, right? That’s a match. Now, a lot of it is obviously in Japanese, which we can’t read, but there is a small section in English. Mine says number 43. A crescent moon will be grad will be full gradually. So you should wait the chance. It is so hard to get a chance in fortune like to hunt deer in a deep valley. But with the with the of a great person with honor, the deer will be shot and given to you. Then everything start going so well. You can get a the job and income later social fame together. Wow. Subscribe. To start a trip is all safe. Marriage and employment are both well. Oh my goodness. Clear and concise. Coming fortune in future depends on all what you have done at past. If you behave, if you behave your best to others, you can be rich and get honor by people. Your request will be granted. The lost article will be found. The person you wait for will come. Building a new house and removal are both good. That’s nice. So, we got good ones. Apparently, there are bad ones in there that you can draw. That’s so rough. Pay money for someone to be like, “You’re fucked.” But if you draw a bad one to get rid of the evil spirits, you tie up on one of the racks that are on the side of where you draw them and that gets rid of your evil spirits. So, either way, it works out positively. All right. [Music] Crazy. [Music] I don’t even know how much does the elephant weigh. I wanted to cut this part of the video out, but Jordan found it funny. And I guess it’s a little insight into how my mind works. I knew that this red lantern weighed 700 kilos, and I guess I wanted context for that in elephants. Turns out it’s not even close to the weight of one elephant. All right, back to the video. I have four things to say. Four. It’s very busy. I don’t know, but I want to know what the smoke thing is, like cleansing ritual. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Same goes for the drinking water out of dragon’s mouths cuz that was I didn’t see that. Yeah, it was just a little bit further on. I went around and got some B- roll of it. Um, let’s go back and see. Seemed like a luck thing. And also the throwing coins inside in the temple. I’m I think it’s like a wishing well thing, but yeah, it was like split up. So like maybe dependent on when you where it landed, something different happened. But we can officially cross one off the list. Cross. Boom. One down. And I know of another one that we can cross off pretty quickly. That’s right around the corner. Love that. We’ve heard this is the place for noodles. Noodles. This should be quite the unique experience. Should we be waiting until we can sit next to each other? I think so. There’s like a seating chart of what’s available and what’s not. Looks like it’s just booked all the time. They’ve literally opened an hour ago and it’s full. Yeah, it’s like breakfast time. But these are like the super famous single seat ramen places. Apparently, it’s meant to be pretty mid-level ramen, but you got to come here. It’s going to be our first ramen in Japan. So, it’s my own little cubicle. They just put the curtain down on me and assume this is where the magic happens and then the curtain will come up and I’ll be fed my spicy ramen. I think it’s like 10 to 12 Australian dollars per bowl and chopsticks. If you didn’t order enough, you can order extra here. Thank you. I love it. That’s really good. All the reviews saying the noodles are mid. Get out of here. Going to build the perfect bite. Little bit of noodles. Green onion. Cheers. I love it. As if people say this is mint. Although it is our first ramen in Japan, but I think it’s great. I’m really impressed. This is so much fun. I love it. I went for all of the recommended options when I ordered and I think it’s perfect. It’s just the right spiciness for me. The broth is so flavorful. I don’t understand how people say this is mid-level ramen. I know we haven’t had anything else, but this is so good. Plus, it’s just such a fun experience. It’s like it shouldn’t be as fun as it is. Like we’re still technically sitting next to each other and can talk to each other, but it was so fun. It got a lot spicier towards the end, but it was really good. Oh, wow. Wow. Wow. Sorry. Jeez, Lord. Sorry. Sorry. I think we timed that well. I cannot believe how well we timed that. The line is huge now. and we walked straight in. I think we waited for 5 minutes so we could get seats together. The line literally goes down the stairs. Bonkers. So, that place was called Ichy Run and highly, highly recommend it. I do believe it’s a chain. We just came to the one that’s literally around the corner from where we’re staying. If you like spicy, I challenge you to get the spicy. It does get hotter and hotter as you eat it, but it’s absolutely worth it. And now on to the next stop. [Music] This is cool. Wow, there’s a zoo. Let’s walk in and around. You’re welcome. Oh, where’s she going? Park. This is nice. The next thing on our list was a park. And this one was actually told to us by our Instagram followers. So if you’re not following us on Instagram yet, get on there because we need your recommendations. This one’s a winner. Look at this. Wow. It looks like a maybe a market’s on as well. I also just think time of year is hard to be beat because all of the leaves are like bright yellow. Proper golden like sun shining through the yellow leaves and the bright blue sky. How’d we get so lucky, man? Love an autumn park. Very like Central Park vibes. Extremely Central Park vibes. I love it. [Music] Don’t know where Emily’s gone. You can see in the Osmo that I did connect to her microphone, but I don’t know where she is. [Music] Not only is it beautiful and just packed with people having picnics and enjoying the weather, behind me is a zoo. Behind Jordan is two museums and a theater, let alone all of the cafes and restaurants and stuff. What an epic park. I love it. Knock out of nowhere. The sweetest one, man. We were standing enjoying the yellow leaves and how beautiful it is. I was just standing there. Jordan was getting some shots on the camera and all of a sudden I just heard from beside me. Oh, it’s very beautiful. It was the sweetest old Japanese man. We chatted for a while and then he asked someone to take our photo together, which is very nice. It was so wholesome. He had his little what, like $40 camera? He said it was. We all took a happy snap. He was so sweet. Very sweet. So this is Yuno Park. very hard. Wow. Someone just started playing the accordion. This place has everything, including an accordion, but there is also a zoo. Heaps of the cherry blossoms here. So, in spring, it becomes incredibly popular. But even today, with all the leaves changing colors and falling, it’s also incredibly popular. Plus, it serves another purpose because there’s a subway station. And from here, we’re about to spend an hour on the subway. A mercy. Stressful being in charge. I really have no idea where we’re going. There are so many different arrows and we can see what we need on the sign, but the arrow points in the same direction as a bunch of other things and then our insignia kind of disappears. Okay. [Music] It’s busy. Japanese trains are very quiet. Freom this way. So, we’ve made some changes to our plans. Our plans for the day are basically just check off as many as we can off of our list as possible. And we were going to head to Shabuya next and get some food, but I’m not super hungry yet because we just had Ichiran Ichiran. So instead, I’ve made some quick decisions and we have come to Ginsa for food, but it’s smaller food that we can share. So that’s a better decision. this way. In summation, we got off the train to Shabuya early because we weren’t hungry so that we could eat some food. Emily logic. My plan is that that food that we were going to get now that’s bigger and like we would each have a bowl of noodles, we’ll save that for tomorrow for lunchtime and this is like a little snack that we can get one and share. Okay. So, actually it does make more sense. We’ll see. And tomorrow we want to go to that temple anyway which is near the other food. So it makes sense to do them at the same time. Guess you’re gonna have to keep watching to see what we mean by tomorrow. Logical. [Music] Hello. What’s your favorite flavor? Yeah. And two. Oh, the strawberry one. Choco strawberry cream. Yeah. Good. and spicy and egg sard. Ooh. And kimak curry. Yes, they’re your favorites. Andyaki. You like all of them. And uh my favorite matcha. Matcha. Oh, good choice. Awesome. Thank you. Strawberry. Surprise me. Strawberry. What flavor milkshake do I like to get? Strawberry. Surprise me. Sounds like you don’t want what I’m going to get you. So, tell me what you want. Don’t know what the options are. There’s regular. Use your knowledge of knowing me. I actually don’t even know what these are. So, it’s a fried sandwich. I’m pretty sure it’s ice cream in the middle. Is there chocolate? There’s chocolate strawberry. Chocolate banana. Use your knowledge. You got this. I don’t know where to go. Age three is a viral sensation. You’ve probably seen it all over Tik Tok and Instagram. Oh my gosh. From what I understand, it is a fried bit of white bread that is then sliced open and stuff is shoved in. I went for the original whipped cream flavor, which sounds odd. And I got Jordan banana chocolate cream. She knows me well. There’s also savory options, so like spicy noodles or egg salad. I saw that. And to start with, I was like, “Oh, that seems odd.” Because I knew the viral one was this whipped cream flavor, but really it’s a bit of bread. So, it’s like a toasty, like an egg toasty. And it is shoulderto-shoulder in that shop. Like one singular line you go up to order and then a second singular line you go up to collect it, but they almost don’t let you order until there’s room for you to go over and collect it. Like they deliberately keep it really small. I like that. And there’s like a a guy monitoring the line out the front as well, which helps a lot. Yeah. So, this is what we got sidetracked for. Wa! Holy moly. First bite. You ready? Oh my lord. Cheers. Cheers. Get your chocolate on me. Wow. Your mouth is covered in chocolate. [Music] That is really good. It’s very confusing. It’s like mine’s like um that cheap, not cheap, but like the original chocolate topping you get on ice cream spread over like a chocolate mousse. Oh, yours is too much. Can I try the original? Mhm. Just a little bite. Yours isn’t enough. I prefer it. The bread is fried to an inch of its life. Yeah. Yum. Which is great. It’s funny there’s a park right next door and everyone’s grabbed it and come in here. I did think there would be a way longer line than there was. I think I was in line for what 10 minutes. The line did get better bigger after you went in. We’ve done that so many times. I also think it used to be that um people would wait on the road and now they have very particular line monitors making sure people don’t wait on the road and eat on the road because I would dare say that there’s been some accidents cuz it’s kind of like a blind corner. That’s true. Let’s find somewhere to sit. Finish this. Not bad. Very good. All right, we got to get back on the train. Christ. Oh my god, it’s another one all in a row. That’s so weird. So weird. We did not do this in any order at all. And yet four in a row. Oh my god. And that’s where we’re going. What is going on? This is so cool. The world’s busiest pedestrian crossing during rush hour. 3,000 people cross at once. So that what we just did, 3,000 people. That’s insane. I’ve never seen so many cameras and camera phones and like selfie sticks. Yeah. Ready? We got to cross these off. Where is it? Oh my gosh. Shaboo scramble. We’re just walking into a crowd of people. Oh my goodness. Oh lordy. There’s so many viewpoints you can do this from, but this has to be the best way to experience it from down here in the crowd. There’s a lot of people crossing again and again and again, and I feel like two is enough for us. Can you imagine if this was just like actually on your route every day? Yeah. It’d be so annoying. [Music] I did have a fun fact about the crossing. The Starbucks there has become insanely popular because it has an epic view of the scramble crossing and apparently that was the first ever st Starbucks in Japan as well. Spot for it. Yeah, quite cheekily we have added Shabuya like a neighborhood as a destination just because walking around here is so much fun. There are so many people. It’s very overwhelming, but also like everyone’s being really polite and courteous. And we’re just going to continue walking through to our final stop of the day. By the end of the day, we should have checked off seven out of the 15 things that we want to do. There is one on here that if I’m being really honest, we should just X out or delete somehow. Everyone told us to get tickets to Team Lab and we just didn’t book it in time. I think they sell out like a month in advance. We didn’t book our accommodation until like 2 days ago. [Music] Hello. [Music] [Music] That one was amazing. We have checked off almost half of our list already. It’s actually a fair effort because Tokyo is so big and there is so much on there to get half of them done. Yeah, we actually ended the night last night by going to a little bar called Grandfather’s. And if you are coming to Tokyo, you need to check it out. It is such a vibe. And I hate saying that, but it is. It’s this old It’s a tiny little bar with this grandpa that plays music from Vinyl Records, chain smoking like nobody’s business. He’s the owner and literally the DJ. like he has two turntables there and he switches between them and then whichever song’s playing he takes the album, the vinyl album cover and puts it on the wall so you know who you’re listening to. I know. It’s just perfect. Probably one of the best bars I’ve ever been to, I’m going to say. And the cocktails weren’t that expensive. Anyway, we are in day two now and we know the best way to start. Yes. I think it’s this way. You know, my favorite move is to ask the person what their favorite option is and then just order that. And that is a rocher latte cheese. I thought we could share. So, it’s really good. Yeah. So, we came to this place because I saw it online somewhere and their brulee cheesecake is viral. Insta famous. And truthfully, that was enough for me to book a train here. It’s pretty good. I thought it would taste different because I saw the photo of it before I knew what it was really, but I thought it was going to be more like sponge cakey, but it’s more cheesecake. Yeah, more cheesy. I guess I thought it was going to be like cake. Look, this isn’t a cheap stop. Two small coffees and a cheesecake to share was $21 Australian. But this is on the way to a lot of things that we want to do today. Yeah. And what a cool coffee shop. Great excuse, babe. It was on the way. It was. There’s no other coffee places for two trains. Who needs money anyway? Really? Useless resource. We’ve reached that point in the trip where it doesn’t matter anymore. Yeah, very much. On to the next stop. 20-minute walk. It’s going to be nice. There is one major thing to see in the Shinjuku area, and Jordan has no idea what it is. So, walk this corner and get your reaction to what you see. All right. This feels really weird. It’s Godzilla. It’s the Godzilla building. I honestly have no idea about it. I’m pretty sure it’s a hotel somehow. Like you can stay in the Godzilla in its place. I think so. What? This area is bonkers. There are so many people here. And it’s actually home to the world’s busiest metro station. Yeah. 3.5 million people per day. Had no idea. Makes sense, though. Take care. Crazy. Let’s take it off. It’s a cat. It’s actually really good. That’s the second billboard we’ve seen that has like a 3D effect to it. And I think that one’s better than the one we saw in China. That one is definitely better. I don’t know whether it’s just cuz of the video that’s playing is better, but yeah. I really like it. I like it, too. Shinjuku, baby. Shinjuku, baby. First impressions of the Mi Meni, I don’t know how to pronounce it, is this area is way bigger than I thought. I think it’s 170 hectares. I read online. Lots of trees stuck in his piles. Um, but I only saw really pictures of the main area with the barrel things. Not this beautiful area. Yeah, we’re trying to get to the barrels, right? Yeah. Sure that’ll be up here. [Music] We saw a bunch of people coming to this before entering the temple. And then I read a little plaque that says there’s purification etiquette. So you wash your hands, rinse your mouth, and wash your hands again. And then you have purified yourself. Women can enter the temple. [Music] So, like a 20-minute walk away from the cat billboard is this Shinto shrine. I forget the name of it, but it is definitely one of the things you need to see when you’re in Tokyo. It’s free entry, and it’s epic. It’s a lot of like quiet places. Like, there’s a lot of security guards holding signs that say quiet, please, which I think is amazing and quite cute. But it’s it’s truly epic. I don’t know whether these gates are like going to be all over Japan, but I hope so. There is one other part to this kind of shrine complex that we want to see. And I I think it’s this way. This is honestly the main picture I had seen about the Meni Temple. And now we’ve been here. I see why. It is beautiful. They are all old sake barrels that have been wrapped in straw and from what I understand every year one gets added as an offering to someone. It’s only a 15-minute walk till food. Yes, sure. We’re taking an intentional detour down an incredibly busy street just so we can take one more thing off. I think it’s worth it. That puts us close to finishing this list. [Music] I don’t think we have long enough to wait in this line. It did look really good though. That’s what’s annoying. Yeah, we’ll have to come back to Japan. Okay, so there’s a very viral udon carbonara place that we came all the way out to go to. Uh but the line 50 minutes 50 minutes long and we’ve actually booked one of the things on the list we had to book and that time is quickly approaching. So we literally don’t have enough time to get it. So instead something else something else. I’m glad we couldn’t go to the other place. You know they say like don’t just follow the path for your own. Don’t just go somewhere viral. Go somewhere else and make that place viral. And if this place tastes any good, we’ll let you know. Viral. New York pastrarami sandwich. If the viral carbonara udon place is way too busy, this is a pretty good consolation pri consolation prize. I’m tired. We really still need to hustle. We have an hour train journey to get where we need to go. And I think we need to be there in exactly an hour. Cross say almost done. Nice. 1 hour later, we have made it to our final stop of 48 hours in Tokyo. Tokyo Skytree. We’re going up there. Definitely get your tickets before you get here. It is a lot easier than lining up and hoping to get something. Thank you. Wow, what a view. We ended up booking the 4:00 tickets to the Sky Tree because the sun sets around 4:30 and that way we get to see it now when it’s all golden and at night time. Turns out you can buy two types of tickets sort of like to the first level or the second and we just got the cheapest ones to the first level. I think the benefit of potentially buying the ones that go to both is less people would be up there. Like this would be the most popular ticket. You would think so. Yeah. Yeah. Cuz it’s cheaper. Cheaper. But it also seems like they completely sell out every time. So, especially sunset. Yeah. We make a point of not going to observation decks because we always think they’re a bit overpriced. But if you’re going to go to one in the world so far, this is the one. This is the one. It’s so pretty. I just wish we could see Fuji. Really? A Don’t do that. What a way to end Tokyo, though. This is such a good spot for sunset. We only missed a couple of things on our list. Yeah, let’s get a list. Not bad. Nice ticket. That is bloody close. We missed two things. Three. Team Lab, Tokyo Tower, and the Carbonara. Yeah, that’s not bad though. Let us know if that means we have to come back. Missing those three things in particular, is it worth a trip back to Japan? Next time you see us, we’ll be doing something that’s been on my bucket list personally for a very long time. We loved Tokyo and we love seeing Fuji from far away, but we couldn’t help but think seeing it up close might be a little bit cooler. So, for the next 5 days, this tiny camper van will be our home as we take on Japan in a van for the very first time. During this 730 km journey, we’ll be sharing a full tour of this van, figuring out how to find free overnight parking spots, and yeah, making a few rookie mistakes. We made a mistake. We took a wrong turn. $50 Australian. The goal of this video is to get the best view possible of Fuji. We have some epic spots lined up. Some that are super popular and some that are a little bit off the beaten path. What we didn’t know then is that Mount Fuji is notoriously shy. Only visible around 80 days a year. Meaning it’s not uncommon for people to fly all the way here and never see it. But let’s rewind to the start. We picked up our van, ran through the Grand Tour, and then we heard the words we’ve been waiting for. Starting route to Mount Fuji. already absolutely loving Japan in a van. We actually ended up getting a free upgrade when we showed up to Samurai Camper Van’s headquarters to pick up our little tiny van. They upgraded us to this beast. But first, we haven’t eaten. And it is 1:00 p.m. So, quick bite to eat before we continue on. Cheers. Oh, pretty good. I had some sticker. Oh, not bad. That’s like better than some McDonald’s ones. This van that we upgraded to didn’t come with an etc toll ticket, like an electronic toll charge reader reader thing that comes on the van. Some of Samurai campers do have them, but when we upgraded last minute, this one didn’t. So, instead, we have to pay by credit card. And we got this little slip as we entered the toll road. And I believe we will pay for it when we hop off. From my research, this toll driving on this road right now is going to cost us $50 just to drive on a road. We’re from Adelaide where we have zero toll roads. So the whole concept is quite foreign to me. It is super expensive and unexpected for us, but it halves the driving time. Also, it potentially means we’re going to make it for sunset at Fuji, and I think that’s worth it. [Music] Everything’s signed as between 50ks an hour and 70ks an hour while everyone else is going 100 next to me. Good timing. And I feel like the estimate of the time it’s supposed to take is based on everyone else’s like Google tracker or Apple Maps and they’re all going faster than the speed limit. So even the big trucks. So I feel like 3 and 1/2 hours is wrong is what I’m trying to say. I think it’s going to be more like 4 and 1/2 hours going the speed limit. [Music] We took the wrong turn. So, now we have to get out of the etc to pretty much get straight back on it. I’m praying that it’s not going to just charge us $50 twice. Ticket $50 Australian for that. You looped around. Uh-huh. Well, that was 50 bucks, but because we took a wrong turn because the sign not really being visible until you were out of the tunnel and already kind of constricted to a lane. Go left hand side. And now we have to get back on and do it again. Nice. Found it. Found Fuji. Stop looking. you. This is view number one. Yeah, technically view number one. I will say while we were driving today, we thought we saw it and we were like, “Oh, look at that mountain.” It was a completely different mountain. But we have just turned a corner and Fuji is right there covered in snow. It’s so beautiful. It’s huge up close. As if people climb that. Should we climb it? Yeah. Oh my goodness. It’s a bummer that this drive took longer than it was meant to because the sun’s starting to set and it sets quite quickly and we still have 15 minutes until we’re stopping to get food for the night. It’s beautiful. Drink water from there. We did drink water from there. Wait, are you thinking of you and Fiji and Fuji? Oh, they’re pretty close. They’re not. I actually cannot believe it. Look at these guys. I got the bus. Thank you. We were not meant to get a view of Fuji today necessarily. Like we were hoping for one, but for that Yeah. I thought we’d have to wake up and like hunt around and hopefully get lucky when the weather clears, but it’s just like bam. Here you go. Not bad. Okay. Should be coming up on the left. [Music] We just picked up some food from a Lawson’s because I don’t know if we’re going to come in contact with any other food. And we think our microwave works, but the sun sets in like 20 minutes, so we want to try and get somewhere where we can sleep in 20 minutes. Just don’t hit that car that’s behind. Thank you so much for your advice. You’re welcome. We were quite anxious about renting a car in Japan. We’ve done it all over the world, but it always freaks me out in van life because we are cheap. We like to We’re good. We like to take advantage of free camping, I think they call it, around the world. That is always a little bit difficult to figure out, but in Japan, it’s actually super common. And any roadside station you can basically park up at for the night. A lot of 7-Elevens and Lawson’s do it. Wo. So, we’re heading to one that’s 13 minutes out of town. There was a couple of options. I downloaded this app. I’ll put it on screen in case you’re thinking of doing it. It’s just a map that you can go in and you can see different roadside stations. The only negative for this one is that we won’t have a view, I don’t think, of Fuji. We will see. Oh, you can’t see it yet. We will see her tomorrow. Huh? Him. It they the beautiful, beautiful Fuji. We made a mistake. I put in the department store looking road sign into Google Maps instead of the one that was on a lake. So, we’re going to go check it out, see what that one’s about, and make a decision from there. Yeah. Whoops. [Music] [Music] Night one in the van was freezing. It got down to3, [Music] I think. Um, and our blanket is just like the cover for a duvet without actually having the duvet in there. But thank God we’re in Japan where vending machines serve hot coffee. Amazing. [Music] Starting route to Tego Hammer. [Music] [Applause] [Music] I don’t know if this is the Lawson’s. It seems like it has to be. It’s not. That’s crazy that there’s multiple ones. There’s a lot of cars here and there’s a place for a bus to pull up and we know for a fact that tourists come here to look at the Lawson with Fuji in the background. Yeah, I do feel like there’s normally a bridge so it might not be the super viral one that you’re not meant to take photos of anymore. But if it’s not, come to this one cuz it’s great and there’s no one here. There was a bridge at the one we got dinner at last night. Yeah, but that one you couldn’t see the background. Like I really don’t know. But it was harder. Yeah. Like if you were on the bridge you could. I don’t know. I don’t know. This could be it. This might not be. But yeah, like Emily said, we’re here to quickly grab something for breakfast and we’re going to take it to have a picnic at our next spot of Fuji. It’ll always wild me out seeing wild you out. Yeah, that’s a thing people say that from now on. Seeing coffee in the fridge that’s really hot and like coffee in the vending machine this morning that’s really hot. So, I read online or I saw something on Tik Tok or Instagram or something that if you check your receipts at the bottom, they’ll sometimes have little coupons and we got some and Jordan said no to the receipt and I said yes. I felt really annoying for the poor guy, but we get 50 yen off of a drink. So, good. That’s like That’s like half price. It’s at least a third off. Yeah. All right, let’s go get a good picnic spot. So, this is technically going to be our first official spot of spotting Fuji, but like you’ve seen, we have been incredibly lucky. I think so many people told us that we would have to be really lucky to see Fuji. Yeah, we’ve seen it four times, four different places. It’s bonkers. Not a bad spot for a picnic. [Music] [Music] So, we’ve come to our first stop of trying to find the best view of Fuji. And it’s like a gravel beach on a lake, but it has an incredible view of the mountain reflecting off the lake. There are boats here that kind of add to the aesthetic, and it is serene and peaceful. I can’t believe that we’re one of like 10 groups here, maybe more. Like, it’s so quiet. And this view, I genuinely don’t think it’s going to get peaked today. I think we might have peaked too early. Picnic time. Picnic time. So, yesterday completely forgot that we picked up our first ever mochi to try. We’ve never had this and I feel like convenience store mochi in Japan. Should be our first one. While we’re looking at Mount Fuji, we also picked up this morning from Lawson’s milk caramel dauku, which from what I quickly Googled on the drive here is just mochi that’s filled with something, but I could be wrong. This has to be the best spot to try mochi for the first time. Am I saying that right? Mochi? I actually have no idea. Mochi. Mochi, maybe. Do you want green or white? Green, please. seen people making this on YouTube where they hit it with a big hammer. Oh, I think we’re going to see that when we’re in Osaka or Kyodo. I can’t remember. That is this right? I think so. Weird. Smells like grass. Wo. Tastes a little bit grassy. Essence of grass, but it’s actually got a nice flavor. And I do like the consistency. Red bean paste inside. Cool. Do you want to try? Yeah. So weird. Whoa. Oh, not for me that flavor. Cheers. Now that I can get around. This spot is going to be very difficult to beat, but we are absolutely going to try. I think we’ll finish these coffees and hit the road again. We honestly have just gotten so lucky on this trip for the whole 6 months, for I feel like the whole 3 years, but specifically here in Japan. I just feel like I have to pinch myself constantly because everyone we talked to that we said we were coming to see Mount Fuji was like, “Just tamper your expectations. Fujian is a fickle thing. Like, you really might not see it the entire time you’re there. So, just be mentally prepared that that might happen. But instead, we’ve seen it on the fly over from Sky Tree. I’m still not 100% sure about that. Let me know in the comments if this is definitely Fujisan. And now today, like driving here was insane. Waking up this morning to come and have a picnic with this view is such a once ina-lifetime thing. And I feel like it’s just hitting me how special this is that we’re actually this lucky. I don’t know. I’m feeling very grateful. We’ve been here for 2 hours. It’s a Saturday. Yeah. So, it should be way busier than this. So, we just took the time and tookund million. Okay. Less. It was unbelievable. It was the kind of place where every time you look in a different direction, the sun has risen a little bit, the shadows are different, or like the red tree with foreground is now available. Like, so we were just here taking shots all over the place. So, please head over to our Instagram and check out a carousel or any photos that we’ve posted cuz that’s what we’ve just spent 2 hours doing. That’s crazy. Yeah. Now to the second spot of the day, which I wanted to be there about an hour ago to try and beat the crowds, but it is what it is at this point. I didn’t even think that it’s Saturday, too. Yeah, I know. I forgot until literally right now. Whoops. Starting route to Chorito Pagota. Head northwest on 706. So, this van comes with pretty much everything we need except warm blankets. I freeze my tush off last night. Yeah, I was saying I get sick with like changes in temperatures. It has never happened this quickly. One singular cold night and I feel like I’m all blocked up already. Oh, change of plans. We’ve come to a secondhand shop. Found a better winter rated one and an extra blanket for about $40 and we should be sweet. Cross your fingers. It is frustrating that it doesn’t come with something like it’s obviously a expense we weren’t anticipating having to Yeah. wear. But we should be warm for the next couple of nights and that’s the most important thing. Yes. Oh, we also got some super warm socks. All right. Uh, I think we need to get some food and we need to get to this Fuji spot number two. Yeah. At this point, I think we’ve eaten at convenience stores for 24 hours. Make it a meme. Not the bad park at all. We have a microwave in the van, but it’s like 7-Eleven here. They heat them up for you, too. Bonus. Couldn’t resist getting extra chicken and drinks, though. Classic Japanese meal. As soon as we get in a van, I feel like this happens every time. We lose all sense of like rushing, I guess, because we all of a sudden have this freedom. I feel like we take advantage of that, like taking 2 hours worth of photos and all of a sudden the day is gone. And we have had one of three views of Mount Fuji. We also subscribe to the theory that when you’re driving, you just throw everything in the back and then when you’re sleeping, you throw everything in the front and that’s why it is a bomb site at the back. Yeah. Don’t look at that. So to come to the pagod, if you are driving, it’s quite stressful. There are a bunch of parking lots that you can choose from, some down the bottom. We just kept going and going and going and I think we’re at the tallest parking lot you could get to. I have zero idea if this costs money. And if it does, I have no idea how much it would be. I swear I saw signs saying $10. There were signs on the way up. Quite a walk away that was saying 1,000 yen. Let’s turn the handbrake on. 1,000 yen for a parking spot. I didn’t see any signs of how much it costs to park here at all, but it’s a lot closer and a lot more people organizing it. So, either it’s free and we got really lucky or it’s going to cost a lot of money. Oh, no. I didn’t see. We honestly can’t get away from it. I thought we would be absolutely rammed here and like it’s pretty busy, but not as busy as I thought it was going to be. Hey. Hey. I ran after you cuz I didn’t know where you were. I keep going to walk ahead and then I remember that there’s a bear here somewhere and then I stop and wait for you. Turns out if you just keep following the path, there is no one up here. Everyone stops at the observation deck, I guess. Probably cuz it’s the most iconic view. Yeah. I don’t know if there’s going to be a view up here, but No, it seems like there’s not. Why is there no one here? Okay, if you’re coming, come up a few more steps. You don’t have the pagod in the view. You have Fuji to yourself and some picnic tables. We have been up here for like 10 minutes by ourselves. Not a single other person. And there’s two picnic areas. We’re only in one with four seats and there’s another one with four seats. So much shade room. Not a single person. Like I know it’s not the iconic pagod shot of Fuji, but if you’re after a look at Fuji uninterrupted, just come up a few more steps. This is pretty good. Where does this rank so far? Quick decision. I think the lake by ourselves are better than this. Yeah. Than this. And now let’s go test number three. From here, we have about a 20-minute drive to the other side of a lake for our third and final view of Fuji. So, the parking lot that we went to that’s quite far up to the shrine was free. No charge whatsoever. I will say the reason that people don’t come here is most likely because of how small the roads are and tight the corners are. It is intimidating in a vehicle this big. And I have seen much bigger vehicles on the road. So, heed my warning. Quad number three. What do you think? This might be the best one yet. [Music] and this is stop three. What’s the lake called? Lake Kawaguchi. For the final stop, we have come to Lake Kawaguchi. I think last stop, best stop. Wow. I think of the three stops that we saw today, this one is the best. But my favorite moment around Mount Fuji is seeing it for the first time at sunset on that road. Well, technically we saw it for the first time on the plane. Seeing it for the second time. Third time. At sunset. What? Cuz we saw it also. Oh, we saw it at the sky. We have been way too lucky. For the third time on the road at sunset when it was actually big. I think a lot of people if you’re coming here and you don’t have a van, this is maybe where you could stay. And it looks like one of the popular things to do is hire a bike, which I wish we had time for. You could bike around the lake. Yeah, there’s a track that goes around the whole thing. It would take a while, I think. But our friends did it. They loved it and they said it took like 3 hours, but it was joyous the whole time. Maybe next time. Maybe next time. Let us know down below which view you think was the best. One, two, or three. One, two, or three. You can’t vote for the first plane sky train. Just the three actual stops today. I’ll put them on screen. You have to vote for one, two, or three. Let us know. For now, I think we need to get on the road for our next adventure. Little did we know that the next adventure would take us from bright blue skies and views of Mount Fuji to this. Oh my lord. Just a white out around us. Unreal. This was the rest stop. Yeah. I think we get out of here literally before we come up. So, with our tails between our legs, we headed back down the mountain to find somewhere a little bit less snowy to park up for the night. Today, we are driving from the snowy mountains of Nagano to the metropolis mega city of Tokyo. Japan is long and thin, and we’re driving west to east, but I’m still counting what we’re doing as driving across Japan. Okay, be careful. On this two-day journey, we’re going to break down everything you need to know about hiring a van in Japan. We’re also going to give you a full tour of this samurai camper van that’s been our home for the last four nights. But we have to start this video with the whole reason we came to this side of Japan. It’s no secret that we are huge carate fans. And when we saw their video in Japan where they came and saw the snow monkeys, it was added to our bucket list so fast. What we didn’t know was that it was located on the other side of Japan. So, we have made the long drive over here. And today, we finally get to see them. Wa. Hello. A snow monkey, please. I don’t want to stop on this ice. A snow monkey. Okay. That’s what I didn’t want. Saying back to this way cuz you should be able to grip in and then forward cuz you want your tires on that back bit that’s not snowing. This is stressful. Okay. Good luck getting out and straight into that one. That’s as good as we’re going to get. I have no idea how we’re going to get out of here. I was an eventful start from here. I think we have a 30 minute walk up to see the snow monkeys and then hopefully we can get back out cuz we need to drive back to Tokyo today. [Music] It seems like people have been coming in and out. So, good morning. Snow Monkey Resort. I can see them. I am so excited. Actually think steps are better. Yeah. Less risk of sliding. Agreed. So, the story of these monkeys is actually pretty interesting. There was an onen that was made here in 1864 and the monkeys saw people bathing outdoor in these natural thermal poles and decided they’d give it a go. Really, really loved it. And then their generations trained their kids and their kids and eventually it became something that they just do. The hotel then was like, it’s probably not a good look to have monkeys bathing with our guests. So, they built their own onen for the monkeys specifically a little bit higher up into the mountains. Now they’re like the only monkey in the world that actually likes to go into water cuz every other monkey hates water. They normally naturally like caps. Like they will not go in water if you don’t have to. But these ones fluff and love it. Love it. So one of my favorite things about this place is that they have a Facebook and every day they announce when the monkeys are in court with a little Facebook story. And this morning, I think they got there super early because there hasn’t even been a post, but there’s a live feed. I have been checking every 5 minutes or so this morning, and they are already there, and it’s not even 9:00 a.m. Yeah. What? M smell the sulfur. This is insane. Oh, yes. Nothing like sulfur in the morning. I think this is the original onen where the monkeys used to come before they built the monkey specific one. Look at all the steam. Oh, this is a geyser. It’s a rare geothermal phenomena unlike most geysers which erupt at intervals ranging from a few minutes to several hours. It emits a continuous plume of water that can reach 20 m in height. Wow. Oh, so the area is called Geocudin. I’m definitely pronouncing that wrong wrong, but it translates to hell. So, it’s hell valley. Whoa. Yeah, because of all the fire and the heat. There’s monkeys down there. What? There’s Oh, there crystal bridge. Oh my gosh. First monkey. And they’re over there. There’s like where multiple walking across. Oh my gosh. Literally where the people walked. Let’s go. Oh, look. There’s two down there. Oh my god. Money, please. Thank you so much. This is so cool. We tried to come first thing in the morning. So, they’re open at 9:00 a.m. and we’re here for 9:00 a.m. because we know that there’s a bunch of day trips that come from Tokyo. So, we are hoping to be done by the time they’re arriving. Come on. There are so many hanging out next to the river. The goal is to see them bathing in the water, though. That’s That’s the money shot. Oh my gosh. They seem to just not care about humans. Like they’re walking straight past, running straight past, jumping in front of This is madness, but incredibly cool. I’m having the best time. I could cry. I almost have a couple of times. Look at that guy. This is There’s so many of them. And they get oh good [Music] just gets better and better. [Music] Oh, I just want to give him a snuggle. Oh my god. [Music] I find it so interesting that some of the smaller monkeys that are scared avoid some of the bigger monkeys by running right next to humans. Like they’re fine to go pretty much under humans legs to get away from the bigger, scarier monkeys. They could not care less about the humans. Look. Yeah. God, there’s a full mix here. Tiny cute ones, massive intimidating ones. This was so worth the stress of yesterday. Yeah. Yeah. It’s been an unreal experience here. And we’re probably going to stay here for a lot longer than we should. Mhm. I can’t. They’re so They’re so cute when they’re fluffy and dry, but then they hop in the water and they just look like they’re having the best time relaxing in a spa. And they have like their little fingers scratching their head and stuff. It’s so human. Oh, look at him cleaning him. Look at their hands. Oh, the little babies are so cute. See the guy over there shoveling snow. He was like hooking it over his back shoulder and hitting that monkey on the ground and the monkey was like, “If you come to Japan, come here. If you come to Tokyo, come here.” And definitely try and get here for when it opens because we have been here for an hour and a half and it’s just starting to get quite busy. Very busy. I think it got busy like quite quickly, but because we’re at the front of the line, we didn’t see it. True. It is the best. And I’m not the biggest fan of monkeys. Like they do scare me. But oh my god, I could have been here all day. There’s something so strange about staring into the eyes that look human and them staring back into your eyes and like having that recognition. It seems like they stare into your eyes. Like they’re full on eye contact sometimes and they like play with their hands. It looks so human and and they are not scared at all of the people. Like we were standing this far apart and one walked between our legs. Yeah. Not even quickly. It just like dodled through. They’re also very funny. They’re so funny. We were watching these three or four baby ones try and climb up a bit of wire or rope or something and cuz it’s slippery they kept just sliding down and I just had that song in my head of like you know that song Benny something. Yeah. Benny Hill song stuck in my head cuz they kept going up and like pulling each other down. Wanted to make it to the top and then slide back down. I kept hearing that like a gazoo as well. Oo. Um, a lot of fun and super affordable. Like eight bucks each or something or less. Um, the best $8 we’ve ever spent. We need to get on the road and show you the span. So, if you were to map it from here to Tokyo should only take 3 and 1/2 hours, but that 3 and 1/2 hours is if you take toll roads. And we’ve estimated that to cost about $80 Australian. So, instead, we’re going to take two days. Bye-bye. Thank you. Yeah, go so slow. We know. You know, we know. So, people might say that paying $80 to get the toll and get back to Tokyo makes sense rather than paying for an extra night in the van. But we have upfront already paid for that night in the van, so we’re not going to get it refunded to us. and toll roads can get even more expensive if you take a slight wrong turn like we did. Plus, this way we get to see even more of the Japanese countryside, which I would say we have come at the best time of year because the mountains are covered in snow, but it is bright blue skies. And yes, I’m sick, but the snow and the adrenaline that gives me is pushing me through. I said it this morning that we’ve traveled to so many places that often big things and amazing landscapes kind of lose their shine a bit. Coming here, it feels like it’s reset. Like this is just unbelievable. If this video doesn’t make you want to come and explore Japan, I don’t know what will because wow. So, not only is this route longer, it’s taking us like double the time already because we are going so slow on the snowy, icy roads, just because we’re not used to it. We’re not We’re from Australia. Like, this isn’t the norm. So, it’s better to be safe than sorry. I feel like my new catchphrase is slow down. I’ve said it like 50 times minimum. Nice and slow. Nice and slow. Yeah. See, that was a slide. Okay, be careful. Luckily, it’s only 8 minutes and we’ll be at a 7-Eleven, I think. Can have some coffee and really help me calm down. Chill out. Get some snacks for the road, though. Yeah. Go slow on the corner. He did so good. Emily doesn’t like snow driving. No. Which is so annoying cuz I like snow and I like driving. Put them together. [ __ ] hate it. She swore. It’s true though. Literally the whole time. Slow down. Bit slower. It’s one of those things that my anxiety is like here’s all the things that can go wrong. It is dangerous though. Like it’s not unwarranted. Yeah. So poor, you did so good. But poor Jordan has to put up with not only your own stress of driving, you’re in charge of the car. Then there’s also me being like, “Stop. Slow down.” But we’ve had a discussion and she’s more saying it for her than it is for me because I am already like I will be slowing down and she’ll say slow down and I’ll continue my same slow down but thank you. It’s more for her. It’s more like I just have to say it out loud and know that he’s on the same page like verbally that has been said. If you were saying like I’m slowing down I don’t think I’d feel the need to say it like it just needs to be said. Accelerating, breaking, turning. Anyway, you deserve whatever snack you want. Okay. So, there are three main convenience stores in Japan. We’ve got the 7-Eleven that we’re in now, Lawson’s, and Family Mart. All of them have a very similar selection, but I’ve definitely noticed that some products are better in certain stores. For example, the ready-made pasta that you just throw in the microwave is way better from a Family M. I really like the hot chicken from a Lawson’s. And 7-Eleven has these smoothies that we had yesterday. So, they’ve all kind of got their own positives, but 7-Eleven was the closest. So, that’s where we are. Despite saying 7-Eleven is not the place for chicken, ended up getting three. It’s just hot and fresh. Fresh enough. Also got some pancakes. Emily got a cheesecake and a couple of Cokes because that’s like my road trip drink of choice. Google map says it’s 2 hours and 15 minutes until the next town that we’re going to. I picked that town because it seems like there’s a lot of Mishi Noekis there, which is essentially a road station in Japan. We’ll tell you more about them this afternoon cuz it was something that confused us to no end before we started staying at them. We’ll also do a van tour. We’ll clean it up first. Maybe we won’t. We are officially off of the mountains and no longer surrounded by snow, which I am equal parts happy and sad about because I am no longer stressed about the driving, which is lovely. We have about an hour and a half until we get to this town. So, I’ve just started looking up on an app I have which Mi Noeki we should stay at. And Mi noki is essentially a road station in Japan that you can stay at and camp at overnight for free. Hello. Um, it was a bit of a shock when we first filled up. They pump for you, which we’re not used to. They also take the credit card and charge everything, and you just say if you want it full or how much, and they clean your windows. It’s really full service, and petrol is not that expensive. Very good. [Music] We are back on the road. Thank you. She’s so cute. And that was I think a scratch under $70 Australian dollars to fill up probably 75% of the take. So not too bad. We’ve got about half an hour and we’ll be at our stopping point. [Music] Oh, wow. It’s a nice one. [Music] I think we might have saved the best Mishi Noeki for last. For those of you that don’t know, Amishi Noek is a government designated rest stop open 24 hours, 365 days a year that drivers and tourists can park up at, have a rest at. Almost all of them include toilets, some form of vending machine because we are in Japan, cafes, and then this one we have come to has beautiful views of the mountains, Christmas lights, a cafe, a beer garden, a tourist information stop, a market, an onen, and a foot bath. What? And a dog park. Oh, and there’s a dog park. And there’s dogs running around and I love it. This is honestly the best idea. We are going to stay here for the night and we’ll give you a tour in the morning. [Music] So, in Australia, we have a maximum coin value of $2 and a minimum coin value of 5. But in Japan, there’s a maximum coin value of 500 yen and a minimum of 1 yen. I feel like the discrepancy between the high and low value is way too much. We literally get anxiety standing in line at 7-Eleven trying to sift through these 1 yen coins. There shouldn’t be a situation where you need 500 of one coin to equal one of another. Crazy. Plus, if you think about it, logistically, the one yen coin has got to cost more to mint and circulate and have out in the economy than it’s actually worth. Anyway, that was just a random economic thought I had this morning that probably won’t make it into the vlog. The nicest. [Music] Today is the day we are finally going to give you a tour. But first, it needs a good clean. [Music] Time for a tour. Sorry about the way I sound quite nasely. I’ve been quite sick because of the weather, but we’re going to carry on. So, we have one of Samurai Camper’s midsize options. And I think the tour is going to be quite quick cuz there’s not that much to show you. As soon as you come in, it is obviously a Japanese household. So, we take our shoes off. They actually have a little cupboard here specifically for shoes. If I can open it. Okay. Well, just imagine that opens and that’s where you put your shoes. Then you come in. There is a bench seat right in front of me. In there is a space for some storage. It’s quite thin. Then we come to the kitchen. Very simple, very basic. All you need in Japan because there is a Lorson 7-Eleven or Family M around the corner and they’ll heat your food up for you. So, we have a microwave, which has actually come in handy. a little sink, which we haven’t used at all. And that’s it for the kitchen. Right. There’s also a charging station here, and a lovely window. Then you come back. We currently have it set up in couch mode. It’s one of those vans that has the U-shaped couch, like you can see, that converts into the bed. So, under the bench seat, there are three metal rungs that you slide into here. Then, you take these two back rests, put it in, and you’ve got yourself a bed, which is surprisingly comfy. I have slept really well every night except for the first night and that was because we were freezing cold, not because of the uncomfortable bed. I do like this sort of layout in our van, but I do think it has reiterated why we didn’t go for this layout in our van back at home because we would just would never convert it back and forth when it’s that little bit extra difficult because we left it in bed mode basically all of the time. In the middle here, there is a little spot for a table. You can imagine just a table here. It’s one of the ones that you screw in and pop the lid on top. That is all under this bench seat as well as some extra kitchen stuff like pots, pans, plates, a portable cooktop, and plenty of storage for us to put our belongings in. Underneath this seat, we’ve basically been told not to open it, not to look at it, not to think about it. It’s where all of the batteries are housed. I don’t even know how many batteries we have or how many watts or whatever you balance that in. two windows with this really nice like little bench. Every morning, Jordan’s been getting me a nice warm coffee from the vending machine, and this is just the perfect little spot to put it. We also have a full-on air conditioner, which I can’t imagine needing because we’re here in winter, as you can tell by my voice. Um, but I imagine in summer this would be really nice. There’s actually a little remote for it and everything. Speaking of the heating, there is obviously the regular car heating, but they also have a petrol heater. We have been blasting that for 20 minutes and it heats the entire van up. Super toasty. It’s really nice. And I haven’t noticed like the petrol going crazy. Have you? Like it doesn’t take up too much petrol at all. Back here, we also have on either side some charging ports. There is two USB and one USBC per person. And this is all of the power stuff that I don’t fully understand. We have 100% right now, which I guess we have solar. That would be the only way I understand how we have 100% cuz we’ve been charging stuff all night. And then we have 1 2 3 4 5 six switches. One is the water pump and one’s the microwave. Other than that, we have four lighting options, which is very fancy. A lighting for each mood. I quite like that one. Yeah. I don’t know how you turn these on, but they’re fancy. Is that even a light? Oh, I love that they have put in as many windows as possible and that the back door opens like this. We pulled up at Mount Fuji, opened this up, and had such an awesome view. I really like that. I think that’s it. That is all that’s in the van. You will probably notice that there’s no toilet and no shower, which for the shower, we just haven’t had a shower for 5 days, which is kind of gross, but I’m okay with it. And for toilets, we’re in Japan. So, when I think of road station toilets in Australia, I think gross. I think dropies, they stink. They’re not clean, they’re not looked after. In Japan, that is not the case. I don’t think I’ve gone to the toilet in Japan and not had a heated seat or a bedet of some kind. Plus, they are all super clean. So, that is not a problem at all. And for everything I know about cars, this is a Toyota that is silver. That’s it. That’s the extent of my knowledge. The cab is your pretty standard stuff. We’ve got a good headboard here that has Bluetooth and plays music well. a nice size center console for drinks and mostly our rubbish and devices that collect. But there’s not much more to say about it and we have to go drop it back. And just like that, our time in the van was done. So we flew down to Hashima for something we were pretty excited for because Japan has one of the most advanced railway systems in the world. The crowning jewel of that is the Shinkansen. Not only is it fast, safe, and very famous, but with an average delay rate of 1 minute per year, it is incredibly punctual. even checking his watch. He’s checked it like five times already. Today, we are catching the Shinken train from Hiroshima to Kyoto. And to save $30, we are in unconfirmed seats, meaning it might get interesting. Either way, we need to get to the station because our very punctual train leaves in 40 minutes. [Music] Couldn’t help ourselves. We have become obsessed with laws. The effort I put into that, the sound that came out of my body. This journey should take exactly 1 hour and 40 minutes. During that time, we will be flying at over 300 km per hour, traveling a distance of 225 m, saving us a 6hour bus ride. So, we ended up paying about $110 Australian dollars per person for these tickets and we ended up getting them online. We were this close to booking a JR regional pass that covers Hiroshima on Osaka, but at $175, it just wasn’t worth it for us. If we did Hashima as a day trip from Kyoto, 1,000% that would have been the cheaper option. Yeah. Almost necessary. Yeah. But instead, we got the cheapest ticket possible, which means unassigned seating. So, I’m glad we’re first in line. Me, too. Fingers crossed. I love that it tells you which cars are unreserved. It also has so much signage that you know that you’re standing at car number one. You also know where you are in line because it’s like tells you where to stand. Japan is just so organized. I love it. [Music] I’m so excited. Here we go. I thought these could be good seats because there was room for our bags. Turns out we have some time while we’re here at the Hashima station. So, I thought I’d give you a quick seat tour while there’s hardly anyone in here. First of all, it seems like there’s a toilet on every second carriage. I’m fascinated to see what they’re like, but I might check them out a bit later. Genuinely the best public toilet I think I’ve ever been in. We opted for these seats D and E because there’s plenty of space for our rolly bags behind us. Also, this is incredibly spacious. Plus, we can recline and no one’s going to be mad at us. Wo, that’s quite the recline. Other than that, it’s the same as most train seats. It’s quite comfy. We have a little tray table, a hook, a net, and a coat hook. Plus, we actually have a window this time. If you’ve been following along, you know that we have a pretty average track record with whether or not we have windows on planes, trains, automobiles. So, it’s really nice that we have one. Also has the classic sun shade. Plus, plenty of storage above your head for all of your bags. So, this whole space is just for our legs. It’s a party down here. So coordinated. There’s a power There’s Wi-Fi. There’s a power outlet somewhere. 10 out of 10. Wa. This might be the new number one transport toilet I’ve ever been in. I honestly can’t think of one to compare. And I’m not surprised because we are in Japan. It is a western style toilet that you do not have to touch to open the lid. There is a button to do that for you. So, no gross public toilet hands. Of course, there is a bedet. It’s also a warmed seat. There’s toilet paper, a seat cleaner, a nappy change spot in case you’re traveling with a baby, and a trash bin. Plus, there’s a sink in here and another sink out in the out in the corridor. I understand why it’s the price that it is. You can justify the price with the effort in every realm. I can’t believe how clean it is. You could eat off of these floors. It’s frustrating because the benefit is that it’s so fast, but that’s also a negative. Spend less time on it. Cuz you’re spending less time on it. 122. We should be going. [Music] I would say on the nose. 3 seconds after it hit 12:03. And we’re going. So, this must be one of the late ones. [Music] We’ve got to be quiet because there’s hardly anyone on here and there is no one talking. We’re going. This is so good. I’m so relaxed already. If you’re a regular viewer of the channel, you might think it’s a bit weird that we’re leaving Hiroshima without having any videos from there. And we can explain. I’ve been sick. Everyone’s been really, really sick. We have been moving a lot faster this kind of back end of this travel stint and it’s wearing us down. Plus, we only had one day in Hiroshima and it may have been the worst day of all. Yeah. I had like vertigo. Like I was dizzy standing up. So I just could barely let alone try and pull it together to give you guys facts about somewhere so important. So instead, we spent the day walking around just taking in what we could. And to be honest, you only really need half a day in Harashima. So now we’re on the way to Kyoto. Not only are we on a Shinkazeren, but we are on a Super Express bullet train. So, the fastest of all fast options in Japan. It’s the Nomi line, and it connects Tokyo all the way down to Fukokua, I believe. 283. That’s crazy. We’ve seen a bunch of these videos in preparation for this trip, and a lot of people get like these lunch snack boxes. into boxes. Into boxes. We were tempted by that, but the price was a little bit more than we wanted to pay and it kind of added an extra element before we got on the train. So, plus we have fallen in love with egg salad sandwiches from Lawson’s. They don’t have on them. I’m not an egg salad sandwich kind of gal, but I love these. I do feel bad about the smell, actually. We didn’t think about that. They don’t smell cuz they’re so cold. don’t look better. It’s a fact. Also, we’re supposed to wait until there’s light because it makes for a better video, but there are so many tunnels and we are traveling so fast that there’s just no way. So, some of this will be filmed in darkness. So, when you go to book the Shinkersonen train, there are going to be three options for seating. There’s going to be what we did, which is the cheapest option, standard class, unreserved, first in best dress. That’s in a 32 configuration with the pretty comfy seats that we’ve already been through. The next option up is technically the same class, but you can reserve your seats. So, you can go in and pick exactly where you want to sit and have that confirmed before you get here. To be honest, if you’re on this train and it’s a midday train during the week, you can probably just come and and walk on cuz there’s no one here. The next class up from that um we always call like first class or business class. Here is green class. They have a 22 configuration. I’m pretty sure the seats are a little bit wider, a bit more plushy. Um, I was going to say probably fancier toilets, but I don’t know if you can get fancier toilets. But they do cost quite a bit more than this class. I think for an hour and a halfish journey, this class is honestly all you need. Unless there’s some sort of special for the same price, then you can upgrade, but probably not worth it. [Music] and return a reclining seat. This is the Kazami Super Express bound for Tokyo. We will be stopping at Himei, Shin, Shin Osaka, Kyoto, Nagagoya, Shin Yokohama, and Shinagar stations. We have said time and time again how much we love train travel just because it’s such a good way to get from A to B and you get to see the country that you’re traveling in. Plus, here in Japan, I feel like getting a bullet train is an experience. Like, it’s a bucket list moment for Japan to do this. Do you reckon? Yeah, we love trains because it’s usually cheaper. That’s not the case with this one. If you don’t want to do the experience of being on a bullet train in Japan and you just want to get somewhere and you can book early enough, flights are going to be considerably cheaper. For example, I think our flights from Tokyo to Hashimo were like $30 each. Yeah, something like that. Yeah, it was crazy cheap. But this train is a lot more. We also have an attendant that walks past after every stop and when he gets to the end of the carriage, he turns around and bows. [Music] So most people think shinkansen refers to the train but it actually translates to new trunk rail or new trunk way and it refers to the track itself. And that is your fun fact. If you look at a map of Japan, you can see the tracks running up and all over the country kind of like branching out like a tree trunk. Emily’s really not feeling well. She gets a bit motion sickness too and she’s not fully recovered. So now she looks like this. Please be ready to get off. [Music] And just like that, we’ve made it to Kyoto. Wow. Is I think we’re going to check into our hotel and then probably get some food. Dropped off our bags. Now we’re trying to get a bite to eat. Yes. Thank you. This place seems super authentic. We’re the only tourists in here. Truthfully, we only picked this place because it was around the corner from where we’re staying and it was currently open, but it looks really good. So, we’ve been told and we’ve been trying to get okonami yaki pretty much since we got to Japan, but it seems like everywhere that sells it with whatever region we’re in doesn’t open until later than we wanted to eat. So, we will get it before we leave, but today is not that day. Donbur is just like a rice with something on top. I love rice with something on top. We’re just going to eat this, but we’ll see you tomorrow as we explore Kyoto. Good morning from Kyoto, Japan. Today, we’re going to be taking in some of the main highlights here, finding something to eat, and this afternoon catching a very fancy train to see some deer in the park. If you’re new here, we’re Jordan and Emily, a couple on a mission to see 100 countries. And today, we’re in country 54, Japan. [Music] Fun fact, when you’re in Japan, the red section is the hot options. Blue is the cold. Jordan didn’t know that until way too late in this trip. Meme. Get coffee for it every morning. Get ridicued. Classic. I should have had hot coffee and vending machines everywhere. We are cramming a lot into the next 10 hours in Kyoto, but it’s literally all the time we have in the city. So, we are starting by going to see one of the most popular shrines in the country. I think there’s going to be a million people there. Dog. He’s so cute. Oh, do you see the fluff behind his ears? Wow. That was a good one. That was a good one. Great start to [Music] Japan is freaking crazy. We were just saying how crazy it is that you get like accustomed to where you are like seeing all of this cool architecture. We’re kind of used to it now. But this is a building from 858. What? What? What the heck? I was like, “Oh, that building was cool. I’ll get a shot of it.” 858 is insane. construction occurred sometime between the years 858 and 876 and then it got moved here in 1572. Holy jamoly. I know we had every intention of continuing this video by just getting on public transport and going to the shrine. But I can’t not speak about places like that. It’s just a shrine built in 850 surrounded by modern buildings. Like it’s just insane how much history is scattered around the streets of this country. Apparently, Kyoto has hundreds of little shrines, monuments, and buildings like that everywhere. Okay, now we’re going to the bigger shrine station. [Music] We read online that this place can get absolutely bonkers wallto-wall with people and that people come here super early to try and beat the crowds. So, we kind of thought there’s no point coming early cuz we’re not going to get it to ourselves anyway, which if you know us is very unlike us. We tend to get places early to try and avoid the crowds, but it’s honestly not that busy. I think I had really crazy expectations of how busy it was going to be, so it’s quite nice. Do you have any facts? Yeah, got so many facts. Always I’m always prepared on deck. So this is a Shinto shrine. It’s the Fushimi Anari shrine. Apparently in the Shinto religion, it’s kind of different to what you would expect the standard religion to be. It’s more like Greek mythology. There’s no religious figure and there’s no text like no scripture like the Bible or the Quran. So instead of like an actual god they worship, they worship different deities. This shrine was dedicated to the rice and prosperity deity. That’s the Inari part of the name cuz it’s Fushini Anari Taka. I’ll cut that bit out. Do you know how many there are? Yes. How many? 10,000. 10,000. No one knows the real number or it changes all the time because there’s old ones that get replaced and people buy new ones which is quite cool. Because this is a shrine to the prosperity and the rice god, people come and pay tribute and worship the god by erecting one of these gates. Don’t laugh at the word erecting. It’s a very grownup word. They can cost up to $10,000 to do. But if you look behind, you can see everyone’s name and date enshrined to what they donated. That’s why they were. So this is like people’s names. Yeah. Wow. Is it like their wellw wishes as well? As far as I know, it’s just name and date that they bought. That’s so cool. Yeah, super cool. Fun fact, my love. Thanks. [Music] This is crazy. How are we by ourselves right now? Like honestly, with 10,000 gates, there is a bunch of track. I think it’s 4 km total and there’s different levels. And it seems like at the start, obviously, it’s the busiest because it’s the most accessible. And as you come up, the crowd just thins and thins and thins. There’s definitely something to be said for running up the mountain and trying to get the gates by yourself. Jordan keeps wanting us to do that, but we have had it to ourselves a lot of the time. Yeah, I’m just concerned cuz we have so much to do today and there’s only like 10 hours of sunlight, whereas I’m living in this dream world of like we got time cuz there’s only one thing tied to time today and that’s not until the end of the day. It’s the last thing we’re doing. Yeah. End of the day. It’s like 2:00. Whatever. is it’s 40 minutes one way to get to the top. And the benefit of going all the way up is that you would get it to yourself. And we’ve already had that. So, I think we’re going to move on. I’m wondering if it’s one of those things that like the pendulum has swung too far and now it’s reversing. Like imagine if we came at 6:00 trying to beat the crowds. Everyone’s been told to do that. So, I almost think that would have been the busier time. And then 2 hours or so after they leave is when we got here and it was quiet. Now we’re leaving. It is starting to get busy and it is 9:35. So I’d say aim to get here 7:38ish. Maybe earlier. I don’t know. We can’t attest to that. But it was pretty quiet when we were here at 7:30 on a Monday morning. [Music] This is why you get here early. [Music] We’ve made it to Nishki Market, which is one of the most famous markets here. It spans 400 m or five blocks. Hopefully, we can get some food. Is that food market or like knickknacks? Um, it’s kind of an everything market now. So, this market is super famous as being like the central Kyoto market. Started in the 1400s as a fish market and then just expanded into lots of stuff apparently. Still lots of fish. Oh, look at this one. Eel seems very popular. It is packed in here and it’s super early. There is everything you could imagine to buy like from raw ingredients to dishes and hot food. One thing that’s super interesting and unique to hear is you’re not allowed to eat and walk. Yeah. You have to stand still. I guess there’s signs everywhere that say eat your food in front of the store that you purchased it at. Yeah. So strange. In order to use good manners within this market for walking while eating or drinking alcohol. It’s the audio like it’s said to improve manners at the market. There’s heaps people cooking stuff. Lots of fish obviously. Yeah, lollies, souvenirs, all sorts. But I think we’re not after seafood and we’re not after lollies or sweets. It is also a bit more expensive than I was anticipating for like street food kind of vibes. Yeah. Oh, I saw one piece of Wagu beef that was $8. I saw that, too. I was going to be like, do you want to get one? Yeah, kind of. But don’t have the budget for that. No. Hello. We got one of the Kobe, but it’s still $10. So, it’s as much as our massive bowls of ichi ran to get this one skewer. So, we’re going to an old favorite instead. Yeah, that’s right. We’re getting Ichi again. This is actually our third time we had it in Hashim, but each time I go, I learn a little bit more. I get a little bit more confident. So, I know that you can like top up noodles. So, I’m doing that this time. Look at this. We’ve never had to wait in one of these lines. Where do you want to go? This side or that side? Either side. I’m good. Thank you. Thank you. That’s key. I’m going rogue this time. What do you mean? I’ve normally just always gone with the recommended. Mixing it up. What are you getting different? Medium. I’m going for rich, not medium richness. I’m going for half a clove of garlic. I’m going green onion. I’m going pork. I’m going firm noodles. Not mine, not medium. What’s up? [Music] [Music] So this is the Yasaka shrine. This is the same sort of shrine as the first one. It’s Shinto, but this one is dedicated to the deity of storms and whatever that deity’s kids are as well. Oh yeah, it is like it’s not one temple. It seems to be a bunch of shrines and temples within there. There’s also this area where they’re ringing bells, I guess, for like to get rid of normally making a loud sound is to get rid of Yeah. the any bad luck things. Do you want to? Yeah. Do you not want to do it? I’ll do it. From what I understand, just looking at other people, you go up, you make an offering of a coin. There doesn’t seem to be a number anywhere, so I think it can be any coin. And then you ring the rope and it makes a clattering noise. I don’t know, but it looks fun. [Music] I think it is good luck. I don’t know. There’s also a beautiful temple in the middle with all of those lanterns around it. I feel like there’s a lot of subtext and like nuance that we’re missing with this temple. Like it was only a really quick research and we’re only passing through because we have to go. We have to pick up the pace. Our train leaves in like an hour and a half. From here, we’ve got a 20-minute walk to the train station. We actually made it in pretty good time. So, we uh booked tickets online. They were like 20 bucks each roughly. I can’t really remember. They were this much each. Um and we got here without a QR code and we’re a bit confused, but apparently what we paid for is just an upgrade for the regular train service. $14 to upgrade. That’s not bad. Yeah. Okay. For both of us. For both of us. $7 each. $7 to upgrade. We still had to scan our speaker cards to get in. So, I’m not sure what the total would be. It’ll be here. But we’re catching the regular train home. So, if that’s a different price, it’ll be here. Anyway, train will be here soon. Should we get another coffee? Yeah. I am very excited. Jordan has me a little nervous though cuz apparently he read online that the deer are a lot more active in the morning and tend to retreat into the forest of an evening and we’re literally going to get there an hour before sunset. So cross your fingers and toes that we see some deer. Also, I hope there’s a cute toy that we can get Tilly. [Music] There’s a bit. Yay. This is our It’s a sightseeing train. It’s like nothing like a normal commuter train at all. The seats are like facing each other and it’s like more of a dining experience, but still only half an hour. Yeah, we have done a lot of fancy trains in our time and I think this is going to be the nicest, quickest one. Like of the quick journeys we’ve done, this is going to be the fanciest. Absolutely. by heaps. Do you reckon we can hop on now? [Applause] [Music] I mean, come on. If you’re going to N, is there a better way to get there? Here in our seats. I’m already obsessed. One thing is, if you’re getting this train, we were quite confused as to what station it leaves from, cuz it just says Kyoto. doesn’t say a station name, but it’s just the main Kyoto station and you follow the signs to Kit something. It was quite simple to find once you enter Kyoto station. I walked up to the car too that has the food thing and it’s like little sweet treats, pork cutlet sandwiches, beer, saki, that sort of stuff. I knew you’d be doing that. So, these are the seats for the journey. They’ve got us facing each other, but there’s also seats that kind of diagonally face out and have a bigger table, which if I was paying more attention, I definitely would have booked them. But it also looks like there’s charging ports as well, so you can spend time here. There’s also free Wi-Fi. Classic Japan, leaving on the minute. That’s nuts. This is very nice. I’ve got to prepare myself that this isn’t how we’re coming home. No, this is like mentally I’ve got to prepare myself. This is designed for sightseeing. Like the windows are just monstrous. I think there’s also a quad that you can book if you’re with more people. Yeah, you I tried to You have to have more. Oh, why would you have to book four tickets, which makes sense. Uh it’s got a very strong Harry Potter vibe as well. Harry Potter 60s. Harry Potter and 60s me. Yeah. If you get an AI image generator, you say, “Give me a groovy Harry Potter train.” Bam. The train’s not fully booked, so we moved seats to the ones that face out with the bigger table. These are so much better. [Music] Okay, the sun sets in 1 hour and 15 minutes. We should be about a 5-minute walk away from the park. It’s all happening really fast. I’m also like half asleep. That train was beautiful. Toasty warm. Yeah, I think that’s the park right there. This isn’t even the park. I don’t have anything for you. Hi. They’re just everywhere. The town is overrun. I don’t even think this is that many. I think it’s quiet right now. As soon as we hopped off the train, we bought crackers from the first guy we saw. Two $2 for a whole stack of wafers for them. One just there. Let’s keep going. We’ve come to Nara because this is one of the only places in the world that has wild deer that are kind of tame and it became a huge tourist attraction a few years ago and we had to do it. One of those things that you see them bowing and you’re like I have to experience it. We will get bowed to one way or another. We will. The deer of Nara Park are wild animals. They can occasionally attack people, so please be careful. Yikes. Oh my gosh. Should we see if this guy will bounce? Are you going to break a little bit off? Yeah. Yeah. Hello, friend. Would you like some cracker? Yeah. Yummy. Would you like some more? That was very nice. Here you go. You want more? Yeah. Okay. You can have some more. Bow. Bow. Two boughs is very nice. You can have some more. Yum. Yum. Yum. Okay. Bye-bye. Thank you so much for eating my cookies. He was the best. Oh, look at this one with a horn. This is so much fun. Yeah. Oh, you pooping? Are you pooping? Uh, yes, I pooping. [Music] I like that he’s like a wonky fella. Yeah, I’m coming. Can you just be nice? Yes. Yummy. Okay. You’re such a good bower. How am I meant to say no? Yes. You say yes, I want some cookie. Yes, I want some more cookie. This place is emblematic of Japan as a whole to me in the fact that I had such high expectations and yet it is still blown them out of the water. It is interesting like we travel so much and we get expectations from everywhere and sometimes they’re really high, sometimes really low. This is one of the only places the expectations have been Sorry. Watch this guy trottting away. He’s after someone. All right. Sorry. This is one of the only places that expectations have been so high and yet they’ve been met and exceeded everywhere. Like everywhere, everything. It’s just been the best. If this video is proving anything, it’s that you should take a vacation to Japan. Can I have some of your cookies to eat? [Music] Hey, sweetie. Oh, that’s that’s Hey, don’t nibble. Hey, that’s mine. Mama doesn’t want to stretch. You love me. Cookie for you. Bat. Very nice. Cookie for you. Hey, you beat my bum. You did bite my bum. So, mad. Don’t do it again. [Music] So, we go on this hike when we’re at home in Australia and it has all of these kangaroos and we love them. And we figured out the main reason we love them is because their ears remind us of our dogs ears. Yeah. And I think that that’s why we love the deer now as well. Anything like that is the best. They’re just so much fun. I can’t believe how many there are. Also, you don’t have to worry about getting here at like twilight. So many deer, so many people. Feel like it’s going to go in for a while. Yeah. Cheese. Awesome idea. He’s coming. Oh, butt sniffer. Headb butt. Hey, sweetie. Can I get a tiny bow? Yeah. A tiny bow. A tiny bow. A tiny bow. A tiny bow. [Music] You can have so much of this. Honestly, I love it here. This is a great way to end Kyodo. Two bits of cookie left. I read online a bunch of people said, “Don’t bother staying at N overnight.” I disagree with that. And we’ve been here for less than an hour. I agree. Like, if you can stay in one of these traditional looking houses right next to the park. Yeah, that would be so much fun. Wake up in the morning, come hang out with the deer. Go have dinner, come hang out with the deer. Have a cup of tea, go hang out with the deer. We also were saying it can’t be too nutritious to have just like the deer biscuits all the time. We would get like a bag of carrots or something. I just don’t know if like I guess the wafers are permitted to a degree. You would think something natural as long as they Yeah. I don’t know. We do research, but seems like a good idea to me. We’re walking further into the park and then I think we’re going to totle back looking at the shops because I love these guys so much now that it has to be the toy we get for our little niece. That would be awesome. Yeah, we have a rule now that whatever the last country is we visit on a trip, she gets a toy from that country. Yeah, it has to be relevant. Like we went to New Zealand, we got her a kiwi bird. We went to South America, we got her an alpaca. And I feel like a deer makes sense cuz we’re at Nara. There are so many more over there. Okay, hopefully there’s more cookies we can buy. Oh my gosh, they crossed the road at the zebra crossing. At the deer crossing. Look at him. Oh my goodness. We ran out of cookies twice. We bought more cookies. I can’t stop. There was also one of the deers was crossing this road that we’re crossing right now. stopped right in the middle and then was just like It kind of reminds me of like the moose in B like how they just get roam. True. Yeah, they can do whatever they want. This way. Uh, sure. Hang on. Ow. Hang on. Hey, patient boys get the cookies. Grabbing my jacket. You are hectic. But I do love you. What’s your highlight of Kyoto? Probably N, which isn’t even Kyoto. So, is that allowed? Yeah. It’s like one of the most popular things to do from Kyoto. And maybe it’s recency bias cuz we’re literally here, but I love them so much. The shrines are amazing. Like the orange, what are they called? Uh, Fushimi Inari. That one. That was also amazing. I think like I literally can’t explain it. I have had such high expectations and yet they’re blown out of the water. That doesn’t happen everywhere. It’s rare. Japan, man. Japan, man. Wow, what an end. That was the That is the best. I love it here so much. We had one very persistent deer that just wouldn’t leave Emily alone. He could hear I swear when I unzipped my thing, he’d be like, “Oh.” It was funny that he’d always go for the wrong pocket and he’d like rip the pocket. I might have holes in my backpack now. There’s also a really nice one. He was bowing really politely. It’s a good mix here. Anyway, that’s um that’s it for N and Kyoto. It’s been amazing. Tomorrow we’ve Oh, we’ve got to get a train back to Kyoto. And tomorrow we’re getting a train to Osaka, our final stop on this Japan leg. Today is our last day in Japan. And we’re in Osaka. But today, we’ve decided that we’re not going to try to do anything fancy. It’s just going to be a normal day traveling in Osaka. The way that we have been spending our days in Japan, mostly off camera. That always starts with going to a local family m for some coffee. video. There are three main supermarket chains here in Japan. You’ve got the 7-Eleven, which is all over Southeast Asia. You’ve got the Lawson, which is new to us that we’ve never seen before here in Japan. And then you’ve also got Family Mart. Family Mart seems to be the winner. They’re all incredibly similar, but the food’s just that much better in a Family M. Don’t know why. Thanks, baby. This is our apartment. This is actually quite clean for us. Do you have a key? Hope so. Today is the best because it’s just all punctuated by it’s our last day, so why not? Second coffees. Why not? Because it’s our last day. We have basic a dog in a basket. We have basically nothing planned. No cool facts to tell you, but we’re just gonna have the day that we want to have. Is this the right way? Yeah. Okay. We’re just gonna have the day that we want to have and enjoy all of our final things in Japan. So, starting by going to a castle. I know that we might go on a ferris wheel tonight and we’re going to like a really busy market street tonight as well, but other than that, the budget doesn’t exist today. We’re ignoring that. It’s just one of those days where if we want to do something, we’re going to do it. The budget is toast. [Music] That could go some toast. We uh quickly came down here yesterday. We didn’t take any photos or anything, but it’s a very impressive castle. Really impressive. There’s like two layers of moes. Yeah. And like thick thick moes, huge walls. A huge stone. There was like 105 ton I think. Yeah, I had to Google it cuz like distances and weight like just saying 105 ton means nothing to my brain. Like it’s I can’t automatically put that into context. But it’s like 50 elephants. I had to Google how much an elephant weighs. 50 African elephants. Yeah. Yeah. And that like putting it into that context makes me go like, wo. Also makes me think about those people that are like ancient aliens. How did they move these rocks back in the day? I always think this cuz like I wouldn’t know how to do it in today’s day and age with today’s equipment. And like I know I’m not an engineer or like a construction worker. Like my knowledge is very minimal, but I just don’t understand how anyone does that now, let alone then. That’s so true. Floating. There’s another dog over there. I don’t know if we talked about it already, but these are our favorite ones. The latte. Yeah. Also, just while we’re rambling, we realized we’ve had our whole life being iced coffee people. And then we got to Japan. Hot coffee people. Yeah. I think it’s cuz they have vending machines with like hot coffees and everything. Mhm. Anyway, castle’s just here. Just on the rambling though quickly. Ramble away. That’s a boat, baby. That’s what today’s going to be. It’s We might not get great shots. It might be a bit hectic, a bit handheld, a bit shaky, but you know what? You’re just coming with us for our final 24 hours of bliss while we travel, whether you like it or not. Yeah. Although, you can click off off the video. No, don’t do that. Don’t do that. Don’t do that. Don’t do that. [Music] I can’t be the only one who comes to sites like this and tries to envision back in the day when the walls were getting attacked and like how I would defend how I would attack. Obviously, when I’m thinking about that, everything’s super easy. I can defend against anyone and I can attack anyone. In real life, it may be a little bit different. May not, though. Who knows? Look how big this stone is. That is a monster. I’m 90% sure this grounds is like open 24/7, but the Osaka Castle, like the main bit we’re going to, does have opening times cuz you can pay to go up it. And maybe depending on the line, depending on the price, we might go up, but probably not. I determined to not leave Japan with any local currency. So, we also have 2,000 yen to get through, which isn’t much, and we can do that very easily. We also need to figure out how much the train to the airport is. Yeah. put that into our carer cards and then spend the difference. So that hits zero as well cuz you can use the cards at like 7-Eleven and Lawson’s and stuff. I’m pretty sure. So we got them down to 1 cent and then we had to put more in. So annoying. Wow. [Music] It’s another monster rock. It’s one piece. This is the one that’s like 50 elephants. [Music] Entrance to the castle was going to be $6 or $7ish. Six per person. Six bucks. We haven’t done any research, so we don’t know whether that was going to be worth it or not, but we decided not to just to save our money. There’s also like a little boat you can go on that takes you 20 minutes, I think, around the moat, and that was $15, which we’re also not doing. That’s the peach groves. That would be beautiful at the right season, like when they’re all full. It’s chilly up here. It’s so frosty today. Should we go? There’s another castle over there. You go down there. Do you want to? Peaches. We can if you want. I’m not too fast cuz they look just dead. Maybe we just go find breakfast. Yeah, I want breakfast. All right, breakfast time. [Music] Boom. Immediately got distracted by a shrine as we were leaving Osaka Castle. Yeah, it’s across the road. Yeah. Um there’s actually a temple I really wanted to go to while we were here but I didn’t realize how far away it was. I think it’s 45inut drive and I was like oh that’s fine. It should be like a 30inut train journey but it was like four transfers in an hour and a half or something. But it looks really cool. So if you go check out this temple it looks fun. It looks so much fun. You can like create your own postcard. You can buy these little fortunes that come with the little red character thing. I don’t know. It does look really cool. And we were very close to doing it, but it was just that little too far away for our final day. Yeah, I agree. Final days should be more relaxed than that. So, yeah. Anyway, it’s time for breakfast. I cannot believe it’s our last day. I can’t believe we’ve done so much on this trip and it’s coming to an end. Yeah. I just like it feels surreal. We were planning this for so long. We were doing it for so long and it’s the last day. That’s crazy. I’ve had such a good trip with you this year. This year that other years you’ve been [ __ ] Fair enough. [Music] I didn’t realize how popular this place would be and we have been waiting for only 10 minutes. But it looks really good. We are next in line though. Smells really good. Menu looks great. And one of the menu options is an Australian full breakfast. M which is crazy. I don’t even know what that is. Yeah, we’re not going to get up. Eggs bunn is too good to ignore. Come on. Thank you so much. [Music] Byebye. Thank you. Thank you so much. [Music] Yo. Feel like we actually haven’t gone out for breakfast. I can’t remember the last time we went out for breakfast. It was delicious, but it was expensive. I disagree. I got the eggs. Benny, the toast bit was really, really good. The eggs were really good, but the ham on top was pretty much not cooked at all, which is unusual. It was cold. Oh. With warm toast, warm egg. That is weird. It was weird. The pancakes were good. [Music] First impressions of Don Bori Street, a 10 out of 10. There’s giant signs everywhere, like crabs animated to move, things sticking out of the walls, street food, restaurants. I love it. really does seem like the kind of place that would look totally different after dark as well with all the lights and things. We’ve come to one of the main streets in Osaka and I’ve seen a lot of Wagu and Kobe beef shops that are like 10 bucks for a small skewer of steak. So, I wanted to look up what the difference is between Kobe and Wagu beef. Apparently, it’s the type of cattle in the region that it’s grown in, but Kobe is specifically a region in Japan. Wanted to make sure. So, I Googled a little more. Apparently, Japan’s Kobe beef is the Rolls-Royce of red meat, the world’s most famously luxurious steak. It’s also the world’s most counterfeited beef. Odds are that if you ate it in this country, even if you paid hundreds of dollars for a single small steak, you were duped. So, I don’t know whether I risk it and get like a $10 tiny piece of meat or if I just don’t. But I think I’m going to spread Isn’t it? This is what I’m most excited for. It is the world’s only ovalshaped ferris wheel and it’s only $10 to go on. There’s hardly anyone on it at the moment. So, I don’t know whether we go now or whether we wait. Let’s save it. Okay, keep walking. Let’s go get some beef. You going to get sake as well. Yeah, that’s a good idea. Yeah, why not? You know, place is very time squary. There is so many people. And our final things that we really want to find and try is Kobe beef or some sort of Wagu beef, saki, and then there is a cake shop. I really want to go to you having fun. Yeah, it was great. Yay. Good vibes. It just Oh, look at all the big yoza. Very time square vibes. So Time Square. This Kob beef is much more expensive than the first one, which means either the first one’s obviously counterfeit, or this one is overpriced. I think I’m going to go to the counterfeit one. 3,000’s just a bit too much. All right, that one’s the only one with Kobe. It’s a,000, which is like three times as three times less than some of the ones down there. So whether it is or whether it isn’t, I’m going to try it. I mean, it looks good. juicy. So, the Kobe beef, he got it from the front and it was like the most marbled one possible. It was almost all marble. I don’t know if there was any actual beef and it was just marbled, but he then put it on a grill, put like a what looked like the thing you would use to uh flatten out cement on top of it, and then flamethrowed it. I did also see him at the end there dunking it into a tub of something. I don’t know what that was, and then grilling it again. It’s super thin. It smells really good and I have no idea what to expect. Just to say at the moment your top ever steak is the Rocky Mountaineer. Yeah. So this needs to tell me where it is in comparison. This is interesting because served like this, even if it isn’t the real Kobe steak, it is the best steak I’ve ever had. However, when you taste it, you realize this. It would be too much for me to have a full steak worth of this. It’s too rich. Too rich. Too luxurious. Can I have the middle bit? Yeah, you will understand what I mean. I reckon I’m interested. That’s so good. It’s super salty. I know you like that. Omg, this is going to sound crazy coming out of my mouth, but that is worth the money. Wow, that was so good. I’m going to have another nibble of the next. Little bit, little bit, little bit. It’s super luxurious. Like, it’s not dinner because it’s not enough to be dinner, but it’s still $10. So, it’s as much as our massive bowls of itchy ry to get this one skewer, but as a treat, 10 out of 10. So glad we got it on the last day in Osaka. Yay. Oh my god, that’s good. It’s so salty. Not salty enough. I need a drink of water just to rehydrate. But we’re going to continue on down and see what else is here. You want to go on the ferris wheel with me? You betcha. Yay. [Music] Ferris wheel. Why would it be cash only? Apparently, it’s cash only or Alip Pay, which we still have from China, but it’s just not. They’re their scanner isn’t working. I really wanted to go on a ferris wheel. I’m sorry, Bubba. We’re always trying to get rid of cash, so we don’t carry any home. And then it’s stuff like that right at the end that happens to need cash for some reason ruins it. to go to the ATM, pay an ATM fee, have to get out too much, and then have to go on a spending spree to get that cash down again. Do I still have WeChat pay? We can try that. I don’t think we ever use that. It definitely seems like it’s an issue on their rent because we tried multiple different cards that were saved in Alip Pay. Yeah. And there was both of us different phones. I was prepared to pay the fees. Tried to find the ATM. It’s not here either. So, you were going to pay the fees for me? Yeah. But that’s the universe telling us we should not go on that ferris wheel. That’s so nice cuz you hate paying the fees. I hate it. Yeah. All right. All right. Let’s walk and get this cake. All right. So, we’ve been saying all day that today kind of feels like the last day of school. We usually call it muckup day. And it’s like in Australia, it’s like the one day that the kids are allowed to basically do whatever they want. And you don’t get in trouble cuz what are they going to do? They can’t suspend you. They can’t put you in detention. Last day of school. There’s normally a prank that happens. Calling teachers by their first name. Craziness. Anyway, feels like today is that for us in the travel sphere. So, we’re getting cake for dinner. We’re getting an entire cake for dinner to share. Not just a slice. Okay. [Music] Okay, perfect. Thank you. Thank you. I don’t think we got cutlery. So, we might have to go home. That’s $10 for a whole cake. Whole cheesecake. $960. Actually, if you want to be specific, $965 if I want to be accurate. Before we get home and try the cheesecake and the sake, we have to announce this is the last video of ours for this little trip for Japan. Yeah. What was your favorite thing we did this year? Okay. If we’re playing this game, I’m not tying myself to an answer. We’re going to get hit by a taxi. Like, I’m entitled to change my mind. It’s just going to be whatever I think of first. Yeah. Top of mind. Yeah. Um, Great Wall of China. What about you? Uh, Mikong River Cruise. Wow. Yeah. Really like them. Deep cut. Fuji was another highlight. Fuji is really good. Um, favorite food? Itchy rum. Yeah, we have recency bias. So, we might be correct. Recyency bias for right now in my brain. Itch. Oh, it’s cold. Let’s hustle home. Okay. You got it. They’re typ $10 cheesecake. $965. Jiggly jiggly. You can’t get slices of this. You just have to get all of it. also doesn’t smell particularly. Cheers. It’s like eggy. Oh, we bought a whole cake’s worth. That’s weird. Yeah. Try again. But, uh, I don’t mind it. I don’t think it’s not as sweet as you’re expecting. Whole cake for me. Mhm. Saki time. Love that they have these in 7-Elevens and family ms everywhere. It’s just a jar of sake. That’s one cup of sake. It does say one cup of sake on sojuy. Better than soju. Really? In my opinion. And I’ I’d assume this is like an home brand version. I think soju was smoother. What is that flavor? Isn’t that meant to be warm? Or it can be warm, maybe. If you’ve made it this far in the video and you are not subscribed and you do have interest in visiting other countries with us, please subscribe, join us, and we’re going to 100 countries, baby. Yeah. Yeah.
🇯🇵 Japan is one of the most sought-after travel destinations on the planet. It’s rumoured to be a travel hotspot that actually LIVES UP to the hype. Now that we’ve spent 15 days exploring from Tokyo to Mt Fuji to Nara and most spots in between, we’re happy to confirm. The Rumours are true.
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👋 Hi, we’re Jordan and Emily an Australian couple who decided to risk it all, quit our jobs and travel the world for a year in 2022!
We fell in love with travel, filming, and editing and decided “real life” could wait a little longer. Now, we’re on a mission to visit 100 countries by the end of 2026!
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*CHAPTERS*
00:00 – Getting to Japan
14:31 – Tokyo things to do
43:55 – Mt Fuji
01:06:16- Nagano Snow Monkeys and road tripping Japan
01:29:06 – Japanese Bullet train
01:50:52 – Kyoto and Nara Deer Park
02:04:10 – Osaka, Japan (Our LAST day)
#TravelVlog #travelcouple #travel #japan #japantravel
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7 Comments
Are those monkeys dangerous?
We spent 10 days in Japan last June. We stayed in Kyoto & Tokyo for 5 days each with day trips to Osaka & Himeji.
We're going back for 6 days (not including 2 days to & from) on Halloween week.
This time we're staying 2 days in Nagoya & the rest back in Tokyo with lotsa day trips (including Mt Fuji).
Figuring Halloween afternoon in Shibuya & Shinjuku will be a hoot!
I can't wait to go back to Japan!
What made you do such a long video 😮. This can be called a documentary. I've started watching it and give my views once finish watching! 😊😊😊
Hi Jordan and Emily. How are both of you doing? Keep having Fun on your Adventures. 👋🏻🇨🇦
If you want to see the real Bulgaria 🇧🇬
https://youtu.be/oLjD3iY8z3o?t=1527&si=Uz5yeomrPin-cGuw
Great video. I enjoyed all of it..Hope you will conquer the 100 country target soon !!! 😊❤🎉